Solitaire
by Shotzette
Summary: A/U What if Randy Carpenter hadn't died?


This fanfiction was written for entertainment purposes only, not profit. It is not intended to infringe upon the copyrights held by Paramount, ABC, or any other entity living, dead, or imagined. Copyright 2003 by Shotzette.  
Solitaire  
Laverne sprayed Lemon Pledge on the dust rag and began to clean the small knick-knack rack in her living room. Although there wasn't any dust present, Laverne mechanically counted to ten as she went over the shelf. Part of her hoped it would make the cheap maple look better, like some of the lacquered furniture she had seen in Town and Country. The other part of her kept an eye on the clock.  
  
1:00  
  
She quickly dusted over her parent's wedding picture which sat opposite her picture with Randy on the narrow shelf. As she picked up the picture to better clean the intricate mahoghany carvings, she caught sight of herself on the happiest day of her life. A warm flushed coursed throughout her soul as she remembered her big day. The months of planning, the Pre-Cana counselling at St. Vincent's, fussing over the billion tiny details with Shirley, all were to insure a lifetime of happiness.  
  
1:15  
  
Laverne studied her face in the photograph. She'd never seen herself look happier, or more beautiful. Randy looked so handsome in his tux. She briefly thanked God again for sparing his life. It was nothing short of a miracle that two of the other firemen had been able to pull him out of that burning building before the roof collapsed that awful day. She remembered waiting frantically in the hospital ward, the same one in which her mother had died nearly twenty years earlier... waiting to hear those awful words again, that someone she loved was never coming back to her. Seeing Randy walk out under his own power, only marred by a few stitches, overcame the feelings of dread she had inside. She remembered flinging herself into his soot-covered arms in joy, yet not forgetting that the smoky scent on him was the stench of death.  
  
1:30  
  
He proposed to her that very night. Her father, who already adored Randy, was floored by the young man's respect of old-world tradition when Randy formally asked him for Laverne's hand. Frank DeFazio had cried like a baby when he walked his daughter down the aisle. Laverne had never seen him happier, or more proud of her. She had finally fulfilled his dream by finding a decent guy to marry her.  
  
1:45  
  
Her wedding had been beautiful. Everything had gone right for her, for a change. Shirley was a beautiful maid of honor in light blue, but no one could have outshone Laverne that day. She smiled as she remembered how Shirley and Carmine had danced until the wee hours at their reception at the Pizza Bowl. They had seemed so lovestruck that Laverne had half expected Carmine to drop to one knee and propose to Shirley in the middle of the dance floor. It would have been perfect if Shirley and Carmine had gotten married shortly after she and Randy tied the knot. A dream come true.  
  
2:00  
  
Even Lenny and Squiggy had been on their good behavior that day. Despite all of the good friends Randy had at the firehouse, he invited those two clowns to be two of his ushers. Whether they were intimidated by the other firemen, who wouldn't have tolerated any nonsense at the wedding of one of Milwaukee's local heroes, or the boy's near worship of Randy, it was hard to say. The end result was two polite, borderline charming men who proceeded to dazzle everyone who didn't already know them that day.  
  
2:15  
  
Laverne glanced around her small, but immaculate living room, as she decided to give the kitchen floor a good mopping before Randy got home from his shift. When she and Randy returned home from their three-day honeymoon in Chicago, they were pleasantly surprised. Lenny and Squiggy had "borrowed" a truck from Shotz over the weekend, and the whole gang had moved her things into the house she and Randy had leased. Shirley's assurance that Lenny and Squiggy hadn't been allowed anywhere near her lingerie or bed linens had put Laverne's few worries to rest.  
  
2:30  
  
She'd loved the house the moment she'd laid eyes on it. It was small, of course, but much bigger and nicer than the apartment she'd shared with Shirley for so many years. For the first time in her life, Laverne wasn't living in an apartment. She felt just like Loretta Young! Randy specifically chose the house because of the smaller bedroom upstairs adjacent to the large bedroom. It would make perfect a nursery. The feature that mainly appealed to Laverne was the fact that it was only three blocks from Knapp Street, and only six blocks away from her father and the Pizza Bowl.  
  
2:45  
  
A siren in the distance broke her reverie as the dustrag in her hand fell to the ground. Breathe, she told herself, breathe. It was a police siren, not a fire engine. Randy had tried to explain the difference in the noises to her several times to calm her fears. Unfortunately, after nearly two years, she still had a hard time telling them apart. It was getting a little better, though. Her new doctor had given her some tiny little yellow pills for her nerves. At least her crying jags were becoming less frequent.  
  
3:00  
  
Randy hadn't wanted her to work. He wanted to start a family right away. She remembered her last day at Shotz, feeling free as she took off her lavender smock for the last time. Everyone had gathered at the Pizza Bowl for one last after-work drink. She and Randy danced the night away as she looked forward to entering the next chapter of her life. Motherhood.  
  
3:30  
  
It had been such a shock to find out the next week that all the bottle cappers were being let go. Modern technology had finally come to Shotz in the guise of the automatic bottle capping machine. She remembered those bleak days afterwards; Shirley crying on her shoulder about losing her job, and her crying on Shirley's when she found out her Pop and Edna were selling the Pizza Bowl and moving to California to open a Cowboy Bill's franchise. Laverne didn't know which one of them had been more devastated.  
  
3:45  
  
You could have knocked Laverne over with a feather two weeks later when Shirley announced she was moving to California. She was eager to start anew, and Laverne's Pop and Edna had promised her a waitressing job and a place to stay until she found something permanent. The same man who wouldn't stay in Milwaukee no matter how hard Laverne begged, couldn't wait to open up his home and his heart to her best friend.  
  
4:00  
  
She remembered that day on the corner as the ice cream truck carrying Shirley, Lenny, and Squggy pulled away. As everyone else pitched in to load up the truck, Laverne tried to wake up from her nightmare. It was unreal, and Shirley was so oblivious to her pain. Lenny and Squiggy were distantly polite and respectful, due either to their respect of her status as a married woman, or them still being in awe of Randy, she couldn't say. After all the goodbyes were said, and hugs tearfully given, the ice cream truck pulled away from the building that had been their home for so many years, and lumbered down Knapp Street for the last time. "They'll be back," she had told Carmine, who looked as bad as she felt. "I give them two months, tops."  
  
4:15  
  
The joke was on her. Carmine moved to California in less than two months. Laverne couldn't believe it. All the years it took him to save money to finally purchase Marjory Ward's Dance Studio, and Carmine was selling it and heading west. She didn't even bother seeing him off.  
  
4:30  
  
Her days were longer now. And lonelier. The once perfect house now seemed dingy, no matter how much she cleaned it. She had tried to reconnect with the other Angora Debs. Funny, a lot of them had moved away as well. Those who remained were too busy with their children and family committments to hang around with her on any sort of regular basis. She actually caught herself calling Big Rosie Greenbaum's number twice before chickening out.  
  
4:45  
  
She begged Randy to give up his extra night shifts. As rough as the days were without him, the nights were even worse. Darkness gave license to her many nightmares, making sleep impossible. Even doubling up on the yellow pills wasn't working anymore. Sometimes it seemed to her that Randy's day shifts were getting longer.  
  
5:00  
  
Where the hell was he? He said he'd try to be home earlier tonight. Laverne forced herself to breathe slowly and clear her head. Sometimes that worked. Relax, she told herself, he's probably trying to pick up some overtime. She hadn't heard a siren in hours, if something had gone wrong, someone from the firehouse would have contacted her by now. Laverne smiled as reason temporarily took hold of her. Reaching down to stroke her rapidly-swelling belly, she knew he would come home soon. He would come home and want to be with her more. The baby would insure that. When the baby was born, her Pop and Edna would move back to Milwaukee to be near their first grandchild. Shirley and Carmine would soon follow, probably with Lenny and Squiggy bringing up the rear, appropriately enough.  
  
Things would work out and her loneliness would be over. She just had to show some patience.  
  
8:30  
  
"Yo, Carpenter?"  
  
"Yeah," slurred the still handsome, although scarred, fireman.  
  
"That was your wife. Again," the bartender as exasperation coloring his tone.  
  
"Tell her I'm heading out the door right now, Chuck."  
  
"I told her that when she called an hour ago. I don't think she believes me no more. I guess your buddies at the firehouse told her you were here so she'd quit bugging them."  
  
Randy gave the bartender a tired smile and headed towards the door, as if walking to the gallows.  
  
FIN 


End file.
